As you may already be aware from the media, school districts were notified that neither the Governor nor the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) will be providing COVID-19 guidance regarding the upcoming 2021-22 school year. Districts statewide were waiting on NYSDOH guidance, as we had been advised that guidance was in development and forthcoming.
This memo is to assure you that our district has been in constant communication with all other district superintendents from Rensselaer, Columbia and Greene counties under the leadership of our BOCES superintendent to begin to develop a document that outlines a regional plan. Once finalized, this document will be submitted to county Departments of Health for their consideration.
Wynantskill has been fortunate to have the space and resources necessary that allowed us to open five days per week all of last year meeting the previous requirement of 6-feet physical distance. We plan to open school with many of the same safety measures in place such as smaller class sizes, as we had much success keeping COVID-19 out of our school. We will follow much of what is already established in our 2020-21 reopening plan; however, we will make minor edits to the plan after final consultation with our regional BOCES, other local districts and our own safety reopening committee.
One thing we have confirmed with the local Departments of Health is that full occupancy on school busses with mask use and other mitigation strategies will be allowed. With that being said, we would like to know how many families would assist with transportation for the upcoming year. We ask that all families please complete this brief transportation survey.
We will keep our school community updated as more information becomes available and as we work to develop a plan for the upcoming school year. We thank you for your continued patience.
Sincerely,
Dr. Mary Yodis
WUFSD Superintendent